Rand’s moral flaws as a person do not in any way diminish her skills as an observer of reality. I find her glorification of sexual promiscuity sad, and it is inescapable to contemporary observers that the widespread barnyard behavior by the populace has reaped disastrous results by any measure. She pretties it up some, but is it really different?
That said, this chapter lays out in stark grimness the results of everything that is playing out in our own time. It is not necessarily causative nor predictive, but it certainly rings true as an accurate portrayal of the human condition. I find reading AS much like reading the Minor Prophets of the Old Testament: it is tomorrow’s headlines before they are written. Starnesville is the result of the most prevalent social dynamic of the past 3/4 century, namely the abolition of responsibility. With an absence of responsibility comes a void in accountability, and a commensurate debasement of the culture, economy, polity, and education. Whenever I see a talking head decrying “finger pointing” I know immediately that they were guilty of causing whatever problem is being discussed. The coming passages about the destruction of the 20th Century Motor Works is both hilarious and heartbreaking, and the words of the guilty are indistinguishable from the real-life poltroons of today.
The comments about the minarchist government of Colorado lead me to reflect on the ultimate result of any governmental system expanding beyond the true purpose of governance to protect the citizenry from lawlessness and invasion, and nothing more. As soon as government starts doing “what is good for us” (as we vote ourselves benefits from the public treasury) the game is over. We do not know how much time is left on the clock, nor do we necessarily know the final score. But we do know who the winner is : Team Tyranny.
The closing glimpse of Starnesville also provides a portrait of what rural America could become once the power grid is diverted to more (politically) important, population centers. I have a cabin in about the remotest part of Virginia, and I fully expect the locals to lose their electricity when or if the cities become even more energy starved given the burgeoning Obamunism and its irreducible results of shortage. Without increasing our production capacity foe electricity, how do we avoid this outcome? Hence, like John Galt I am constructing my own power source there. Unlike John Galt, mine is based on reality (micro hydro power) rather than fantasy (the static generator).
A quick browse around the preparedness sites and blogs like survivalblog.com suggests a sizable component of our citizenry sees widespread Starnesville-ism in the future.
When I first read AS over thirty years ago I was awestruck by the heroic nature of the protagonists and amused by the cartoonish antagonists. Now I see the heroes as the cartoons, and their enemies on the nightly news in the guise of Obamunist lap dogs in the media and government.
Now there's a sobering thought. That's something I didn't factor into the equation. I wasn't quite sure what had killed Starnesville's power and had people cooking over stone fireplaces. Power rationing? That's worrisome.
Thank you for introducing me to that word. I actually had to look it up. I'll be using it in the future.
Oh, man, that is good. That is really, really good.